Hometown Heroes: Navasota Rattlers

NAVASOTA, Texas (KBTX) - Navasota makes the move from 4A Division I to the smaller Division II with a few faces returning for the transition. Ja’Mar Jessie or Drew Gonzales will take over the quarterback spot for the Rattlers and one gets to hand the ball to Darius Randle, who should again play a sizable role in Navasota’s attack. He had 1,036 yards and 10 TDs last year. But the quarterback position is always important with the Rattlers, who have a good pass-cather in Aaron Nichols. He hauled in 21 receptions for 369 yards. “We graduated a lot of our experience this past year,” Casey Dacus said “We return 4 starters on offense and only 2 starters on defense. We will be young and inexperienced.” Leading tackler LB Joel Castaneda (63 tackles) is among the top defenders, along with Ja’quarian Williams, who is back to play at defensive tackle. “We need several of our younger players to step up and fill holes for us,” said Dacus. “We are moving into a tougher district after realignment so our competition level will be tougher.” Five of the six teams in the new district were playoff teams last season, with four teams are defending bi-district champs. Giddings advanced three rounds into the Division II playoffs. The only non-playoff team last year was Cuero, which lost three games total from 2016 through 2018.

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